Staying Gold
by JustSupposingIt'sBlue
Summary: Twelve years have passed since Johnny and Dally died. Ponyboy and the others have grown up and started their own families, but they never forgot about the two boys who changed their lives. Pony visits them every year, and a promised, he's staying gold. But after a few years of not seeing the gang, what will happen when he is asked to come over for dinner? Something I came up with.


**This is just a little something I wrote for a project last year. The whole thing was based on The Outsiders, so I decided to write an extra chapter. I got a lot of praise from my classmates, but I decided to clean it up and post it on here to see what I got from you guys!**

**It's in Ponyboy's point of view in case I didn't make that clear...**

Anyway! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing story known as The Outsiders... sadly. 

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The gravel crunched underneath my feet as I walked down the silent pathway to the cemetery. Twelve years have passed since the day Johnny passed, and things have quite changed. The gang stopped being a 'gang' and we all just turned into a group of friends and nothing more after Johnny and Dally died.

I've grown up these past years. I have a good job that pays well and found the girl of my dreams. Her name is Martha Waters and she is the prettiest girl I have ever seen. She has sky blue eyes and long, wavy, midnight black hair. She sees me for the person who I am, and not some dirty Greaser with no life and no future. If possible, she is the best thing that ever happened to me.

We started a family not long after we got married six years ago. Together we have two kids with one little girl on the way; Johnny, Dallas, and Nora. Yup, we named two of our kids in honor of the two boys that changed my life.

Johnny could almost be mistaken for the boy who died twelve years ago if it wasn't for his eyes. He has his mother's looks, with his black hair and blue eyes, but to me he looks like a five year old Johnny Cade.

Dally, on the other hand, has my rusty hair and green eyes. He gets into trouble, that one, but in every way he reminds me of myself when I was a kid. When he was born I made a silent promise that I would always be there. I don't want them to go through what I went through when I was young.

I still go to Johnny's grave every year. Martha lets me bring the kids with me. She says it's good for them to see the people they were named after, even if they are no longer with us.

Little Dally, who is only four, tugged lightly on my pant leg as I stared at the tombstone with Johnny's name. Johnny stood next to him, looking up at me with innocent eyes. Kneeling down to their view, I smiled gently and asked, "What's up kids?"

Johnny pointed to the name. "Why do we always come here, Dad?"

I sighed and sent them a tight smile. "Why, Johnny Cade Curtis, this is the grave of your namesake. Your brother's namesake is only a few graves over."

Johnny's eyebrows knit together as he thought.

"Were they good people?" He asked.

Memories flashed before my eyes. Johnny, and I saving the kids from the fire. Dally going in to get Johnny. Johnny and I, looking up at the stars, talking and laughing. Dally, with all his tuff attitude, helping Johnny and I get away after that fateful night in the park.

Smiling, I finally replied, "Yeah, Johnny, they were real good people."

Satisfied with that answer, Johnny went back to looking at the grave where the first Johnny laid.

A few minutes later and we were back at the house. I set Dally down and watched as he and Johnny raced down the hallway in a fit of giggles.

"Woah! Calm down boys. Save your energy for outside, ok?" Martha yelled from the living room. She walked down the hall, a book in one hand while the other was on her very pregnant stomach. Smiling sweetly, she got up on her toes and kissed my cheek.

"Darry called."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "Worried about me again, I'm guessing."

Martha laughed softly and shook her head. "He is always worrying about you. Ever since Johnny died he's been watching over you as if you were glass about to shatter. You should just call him and get it over with. I know how important Johnny was to all you boys so you might as well acknowledge their existence on this day for once."

I gave a tight smile and looked down the hall. "I guess I'll call Soda and Darry."

Martha nodded in approval and kissed my cheek again. "Good. Now go run off and invite them over before I make you sleep on the couch till this little one is born."

I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it and shook my head, sighing, "Fine. Whatever you say, dear."

I walked over to the phone in the kitchen. My fingers hesitated to press the buttons that dialed Darry's home phone, but then Martha gave me a look from across the kitchen and I quickly punched in the numbers and held the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" Darry's rough voice said.

I licked my lips nervously. To be honest, despite how close we brothers were, after I graduated from college and started having kids, I grew sort of distant from my brothers. I didn't want to lean on them anymore. I wanted to live my own life, see the world and "stay gold" ... for Johnny.

Clearing my throat, I replied, "Hey, Darry. It's Ponyboy."

"Ponyboy? I thought you went to the cemetery to see Johnny," he said, quite surprised.

"I got back early. The kids were getting hungry."

Darry made a sound that sounded something like a grunt. A heavy silence came over us. We just didn't know what to say. It's been so long since I last talked to him.

I was just about to give up when Darry said, "I called earlier because Karen wanted to see if you wanted to bring the kids over to dinner. The whole gang is dropping by and I thought that you might want to come over to. You know... bring Martha and the kids."

Karen is Darry's wife. They met only two years after the murder and as soon as they met, things took off. Darry finally found someone he could count one and keep him in line. Soda and I had quite a few laughs when Karen would slap Darry for doing anything stupid. Even with their different personalities, it didn't take long before they were married with two kids.

Darry also seemed to inherit Dad's odd way of naming his kids, because he chose the name 'Sonnyboy' as the name of his firstborn. The second child, on the other hand, had a normal name. Her name was Morgan, and boy was she daddy's little girl. Karen had been the one to name her since she wanted her daughter to live a normal life with a normal name.

I couldn't help but laugh as I replied, "Sure thing, Darry. Martha wanted me to invite you and Soda over for dinner, but it seems like you beat me to it!"

I could swear I heard Darry smile over the phone. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

I smiled at the thought of seeing everyone again and said, "Yeah… I'll see you."

We both hung up and I set the phone down gently in its holder.

"Well?" Martha asked while standing in the doorway. "Is he coming to dinner?"

I smiled and walked over to her. "Nope, but we are going over there. The whole gang's coming over, so I thought we should go."

Martha smiled looked at the clock. "Looks like the gangs getting back together."

I nodded happily, trying (and failing) to rounded up the kids.

It wasn't long till we were on the road and heading to Darry's house. He still lived in the same ol' place I was raised in, so it wasn't hard to find. I pulled into the dirt driveway and climbed out of the drivers seat. Darry had cleaned up the house with the help and instruction of Karen, so now it actually looked like nice instead of the messy house I knew so well.

Sodapop, who was sitting on the porch, was the first person to see me and let out a holler. "Hey, Darry! Pony's here!"

He jumped off the porch and tackled me with his bear hug.

I let out a laugh and patted his back. "Long time no see, Soda."

"Too long is what you mean!" Soda exclaimed with a smile.

Martha opened the door to get Johnny and Dally out of the car so they could burn out their energy. They let out a squeal of delight and tackled the legs of Soda, screeching, "Uncle Soda!"

Soda just laughed and failed to pull them off his legs.

"Gosh, Pony, I don't know how you live with this!" He said, worn down with the effort of trying to get the kids off.

I smiled. "You know damn well how I live with this. Sandy came running back to you not only a year after she was gone, Soda. The first kid may not be yours but I'm sure the other three are."

"You know what I mean, Pony!" Soda laughed, still struggling to get Johnny and Dally off his legs.

Two-Bit then came out and let out a low whistle. "Well if I wasn't a monkey's uncle, I believe that that's Ponyboy!"

Soda clapped a hand on my shoulder and smiled for the hundredth time. "You bet it is! Finally came down so I could see my niece and nephews." Johnny and Dally giggled from their positions on Soda's legs.

The poor man could hardly walk with them clinging to him, so I shook my head and said, "Alright kids, enough is enough. Now get off Uncle Soda before you make him break a leg."

They let out a disappointed whine before letting go and attacking Two-Bit instead. He laughed and picked Dally up, spinning him around before setting him on his hip so he could awkwardly walk back up to the house with Johnny on his leg.

The next person who walked out with his wife was Steve. He still looked at me as if I was I kid, even if I had two of my own, but he didn't mind if I hung around with him or Soda no more.

He smiled and walked over to shake my hand. "Looking good, Pony. I see you will have another one to take care of soon."

Martha smiled and walked up to my side. "Well if you want a child of your own then why don't you have one, Steve?"

Steve shook his head and held his hands up in defense. "Nope. I'm not going for kids. By the way, Karen says to get inside before dinner gets cold. Two-Bit's kids have probably eaten half the meal by now."

Smiling, I nodded and followed the gang and kids into the house.

Soon I was sitting down at a large, packed dinner table, surrounded by friend and family. The sound of conversation and laughter filled the air, and I overheard Two-Bit explaining to Johnny and Darry how they got their names.

"So this Johnny person died? And I'm named after him?" Johnny asked, quite confused.

Two-Bit nodded and explained, "Yup. Johnny was a good friend of ours. Saved your dad's life once or twice from another _evil_ gang we called the Socs."

The kids giggled and begged him to continue.

"What about my name?" Dally asked. "What kind of person am I named after?"

Two-Bit smiled. "You, Dally, are named after the toughest guy in the Greasers – Dally Winston. In the ol' church fire he knocked the wind out of your dad just by knocking him on the back!"

Dally smiled with pride. "Really!"

Two-Bit nodded.

The very memory of Dally and Johnny brought tears to my eyes and I swiftly wiped them away and looked around. It's amazing how far we've come from those days. Thing's were tough back then, now look at us. We're married and having kids.

Martha caught sight of the tears and touched my arm gingerly, while Darry looked up from his dinner with a worried look.

"Pony? Are you ok?" She asked.

I sent her a bright smile and a nod. "Yeah, Martha. Things are just fine."

_Well, Johnny, things do stay gold after all. _

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**Well here you go! That's it! Nothing else. **

**It's done. **

**You don't get anything else. XD **

**Sorry for any mistakes in here. **

**Please R&R!**


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